The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-03-23

Her sonl How gladly % she would @ have er clam: ann
bered up on the cross and hung there herself
if her son could have been relieved. How
strengthening she would have been to Christ
if she might have come close by Him, and
soothed Him! Oh, there was good deal in
what the little sick child said upon whom
q surgical operation of g painful nature
must be performed! The doctor said: "That
child won't live through this operation unless
you encourage him. Yo go in and get his
consent The father told him all the doctor
said, and added: snow, John, will you 60
through with it! Will you consent to It'll" He
looked very pale, and ho thought a minute
and said: "Yes, father if you will hold my
and led him straight through the
peril. Oh, woman, in your hour of
anguish whom do you want with you3
Mother. Young man. in your hour Of trouble,
who do YOU want to csnsole you? Mother.
If the mother of Jesus could only have taken
those bleeding feet into her lapl If she might
have taken the dying head on her bosoml If
she might have said to Him: "It Will soon
be over, Jesus; it will soon be over, and we
will meet again and it will all be we'll" But
no, she dared not come up SO close. They
nnera They would have kicked her down the
hill.
There car be no alleviation. Jesus must
suffer and Mary must look. I suppose she
thought of the birth-hour in Bethlehem. I
suppose she thought of the time when, with
her boy in her bosom, she hastened on in the
darkness in the flight toward Egypt. I sup
pose she thought Of His boyhood, when he was
the joy Of her heart. I suppose she thought Of
,orsak1ng her or forgetting her, even in his
last moment, but turning to John and saying:
"There is mother; take her with you She is
old now. She cannot help herself. Do for
her just as I would have done for her If had
lived. Be very tender and gentle with her.
Behold thy motherln She thought it all
over. and there is no memory Like mothers
memory, and there is no woe Like mothers
woe
I Iremark again: This is a tender scene be-
cause it is Christian reunion. Why was it
that, in the seasonal meeting, when / asked a
woman if it were her son who sat next to her,
making profession of his faith, she made no
answer; but after moment, trying to con-
troll her emotion, she burst into tears I said
within myself she need not tell me the story.
1t is the old story of prodigal got back
found" Or, how many families there are
that rejoice together to-day!
These Christians during the rest OF the year,
perhaps, will not know much about each other.
You 20 in one circle of society. and this one
travels in that path, and this one the other
path; but to-day we all come on one platform,
and we make one confession, and we
cling to one cross, and we gaze upon
one death anguish. 1t seems to me this morn
circle, and we join hands around the cross Of
Christ, and we say: "One Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one cross, one Christ, one do1-
ology, one heaven!" While stand here it
seems to me as if this communion table, which
is only seven or eight feet long and three OF
feet wide, widens until all the Christians Of
our own denomination can sit at it;
and still the table widens until all the
Christians in this land Of all names
and denominations come and sit at it;
and still the table widens until it bridges the
sea, and Christians on the other side of the
Atlantic come and sit at it; and still that Ia
bic widens, until the redeemed of heaven min
gle in the communion: Church militant;
church triumphant.
"One army of the living God
To His command we bow;
Part of the host have crossed the flood,
= And part are crossing now"
Again, my friends, this is an absorbing
scene because it arouses so many precious
memories We look back and remember the
days of our childhood when, long before we
knew the meaning of the bread and the wine,
we sat in the side pews on Sacramenta1 days,
or in the galleries, and looked as our fathers,
mothers, and older brothers and sisters sat at
the communion. Or, if we sat with them,
we pulled at mothers dress and said:
"What does that mean! What is that in
the cup? What is that on the plate" 0, yes;
we remember those Sacramento days Of our
boyhood. We remember how much moro
tender father was on that day than on any
other day. We remember how mother stood,
and without saying one word looked at us,
and her eyes full Of tears. Oh, the
dear old souls! They have gone! But
until the day Of our death we will associate
this holy ordinance with their memory.
And when cur work on earth is done We will
just go up and sit down besiIs them in the
heavenly church, as we used to sit beside them
in the earthly church, and then we will drink
new wine In our Fathers kingdom.
"Behold the saints, beloved Of God,
Washed are their robes in Jesus blood;
Brighter than angels, 10, they shine;
Their glories splendid and sublime"
remark again: This scene is tender to-day
because it is confessional You and re.
member the time when if man had charged
us with anything like imperfection or wrong
doing, we would have thrown ourselves back
on our honor, and said: "You don't know
who you are talking to. I.shall resent such an
insult to my honor and integrity" We do
not feel that way to-day. As we gaze upon
the sacrifice Of Christ, and think Of what we
have been and what we have done,
our hearts melt within us. We SEQ
one dying accursed for our sin, and we hear
Him in his dying words, begging for our SER
vice, and yet how little service we have rem
dered. Of this short life we have begrudged
God even fragment Alas! Alasl Some
Of us have lived out the most Of our days, and
yet we have rendered to God no earnest SER
vice. Sad, that we could have so maltreated
Him on whom all our hopes depend. Oh. nv
brethren and sisters in Christ, to-
day join hands with me in a con-
feSsion before Christ! If there be
any place more humble than another, let us
take it. If there be any prayer more i'm
Fortunate than another, let us breath it. II
there be any confession more bitter than
another, let us now weep it out.
"Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man, the creatures, SIM"
Once moro: This is tender and absorbing
scene because it is anticipative My brethren
we are not always going to stay here. This il
not our home This is only the vestibule Of Of
the church in which, at last, We expect
to enter. After awhile our names
will be taken of the church books, Oh
there will be mark in the margin to indi
cate that we have gone to better church
and to higher communion. Our Father il
not going to let His children remain in thG
dust. The grave is no place for US to stay in
1.-THE trumpet shall sound and the dead shal
rise.n The Lord shall descend from heavel
with shout and the voice of the archangel
and we shall rise. The white robe in which
they put us to our last slumber here must gel
winter. Oh, the reunion of patriarchs
and apostles, and prophets, and of al
multitude that no man can number!" Ou
sorrows over. Our journey ended. 1t will